


New to the Neighborhood: a Bowerbird AU

by china_shop



Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bird AU, Birds, Community: run_the_con, Fic, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-08
Updated: 2012-11-08
Packaged: 2017-11-18 05:02:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/557164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/china_shop/pseuds/china_shop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The new guy has glossy feathers and a very shiny bower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New to the Neighborhood: a Bowerbird AU

**Author's Note:**

> For run_the_con, from halfshellvenus' prompt, "Home improvement." Many thanks to mergatrude for beta. <3

Peter had always been rather drab, even for a bowerbird, and he wasn't the most artistic guy in the thicket either, but no one could say he wasn't orderly. He was in the back of the bower tallying up iridescent beetle shells when El got home with a beak full of worms.

"Honey, you have to see this!" El called from the cool mud patch behind the acorns, where they stored their food. "We have a new neighbor, and his bower is incredible."

Peter hopped out and followed her a dozen trees over to a smooth mossy lawn outside a glittering den. Sparkly colored stones caught the light, there were bits of bright plastic arranged in a pleasing mosaic, and in pride of place hung a very familiar mirror fragment, swaying in the breeze and reflecting all the other finery. 

"That's our mirror!" said Peter, outraged. "He stole our mirror!"

"Oh, so it is," said El. "I didn't notice before. It's okay, honey. I'm sure if we ask, he'll give it back."

Peter hopped towards the entrance of the bower. "Hey!" he called. "Hey!"

"Can I help you?" The question came from behind Peter, and it sounded amused. 

Peter spun around and saw a glossy young male hopping over the tree roots toward him. His feathers were smooth and perfect, making Peter aware that his own were still a little sleep-ruffled. 

"Hi," said the newcomer. "I'm Nick."

"You have our mirror," started Peter, who wasn't going to make small-talk with a thief, but El—who had been admiring Nick's collection of exotic flowers—hopped back into view and said warmly, "Hello! I love your bower!"

"Hello!" said Nick, obviously immediately smitten. Peter moved closer to El before Nick tried to steal _her_. 

"I'm Elizabeth and this is Peter," said El. 

"I'm Neal," said Nick, cocking his head with interest.

"I thought you said your name was Nick," said Peter, but El was still talking and Nick-or-Neal just ignored him. It was probably Neal. What kind of bird used a nom de plume? Peter's suspicions rose even further. He tuned back into the conversation.

"We live a few trees over," El was saying. "By the acorn tree."

"You two live together?" said Neal, not bothering to hide his surprise. "Most bowerbirds only mate for a couple of minutes."

"Our bower is a joint effort," El told him proudly.

Peter bobbed his head in agreement. "El likes to decorate—even more than I do, really. I'm more about keeping things in order."

"I can see that," said Neal politely. He hopped sideways and regarded Peter's plumage with a pained expression.

Ever loyal, El came to the rescue. "Peter's a counter. He knows exactly how many petals we have in each pile."

"Oh, really?" Now Neal did sound impressed. 

Peter blinked at him balefully. "And I know that's our mirror."

"It is," agreed Neal. "It's a very fine mirror."

"It's _ours_ ," said Peter. "You can't just steal other people's things. What kind of chaos would there be if everyone ran around helping themselves? How would we keep track?" He broke off, incensed to see that Neal was laughing at him. "What?"

"Did you notice what I replaced it with?" he said. "I thought the change worked well for your bower, but I had no idea it would be so appropriate."

"You replaced it?" said El, intrigued. "Show us."

The three of them flew back to El and Peter's bower and stood together, blinking up at the surprising new centerpiece of Peter's home. It was shiny, with points like a leaf or a star. It looked less hardy than the mirror, and Peter wasn't sure it would survive the winter months intact, but he felt an inexplicable satisfaction at its presence anyway.

"What is it?" asked El. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's a sheriff's badge," Neal told her. "For keeping the peace."

"Well, we do like things to be peaceful." El seemed comfortable with the change, and Peter decided to accept it, in the interests of, well, keeping the peace. 

"Don't even think about taking any more liberties," he told Neal. "The rest of this stuff stays right here."

"Got it," said Neal. 

"Why did you move here, anyway?" asked El. She was hopping from one side of the lawn to the other, inspecting their new decoration and making sure it was properly placed.

"Oh, I had to leave my last locale," said Neal. "The, uh, weather disagreed with me."

"Uh-huh," said Peter. He had a pretty clear idea about what kind of bird Neal was, but he couldn't help liking him. There was just something about him.

Apparently El thought so too. She flew up and adjusted the sheriff's badge, turning it a few degrees so it would catch the morning sun, and then landed back between Neal and Peter and said, "Would you like to stay for lunch?"

"El knows a blackbird who gets all the juiciest worms," Peter explained.

"Hughes." El bobbed her head. "It's almost like he's got a whole can of them."

"And he just gives them to you?" Neal seemed fascinated by this strange behavior. Maybe he thought Peter and El were thieves too. 

Peter resisted the temptation to peck some sense into him. He said sternly, "We exchange them for insects."

"I can't stand to eat the same thing all the time," said El. She sounded apologetic, but Peter could tell she was preening on the inside.

A gleam appeared in Neal's already bright eye. "I am delighted to have made your acquaintance."

"I keep inventory of the worms, too," Peter told him. "If we find ourselves short, I know who'll be my first suspect."

Neal just laughed, a melodic sound that soothed Peter's feathers—metaphorically, if not literally. Yes, he could get used to having Neal as a neighbor, so long as he behaved himself.

El was about to bring out a worm, when a weird clicking noise filled the air, and Neal's head came up. "I have to go," he said, his smooth urbane manner falling away. "That's my alarm system."

Now it was Peter's turn to be impressed. "You have an _alarm system_?"

"Have to protect my stash somehow," said Neal, sparing him a quick glance. "I have a mouse friend who set it up for me. See you later." He flew off without waiting for a reply. 

Peter stared after him, bemused. He'd seemed so relaxed, so casual one minute, and so briskly businesslike the next. "We need to keep an eye on that guy," he told El.

She was watching him with great enjoyment.

"What?"

"Oh honey," she said. "You want to go see Neal's alarm system, don't you?"

Now that she mentioned it, Peter was extremely curious. Did it involve spider silk? Some kind of dried seed pods? Maybe he could set one up here to stop larcenists and vagrants—like Neal—from plundering their home. "Do you mind?"

"It's okay, hon, take your time." El moved closer and kissed him fondly. She looked around for their pet grasshopper. "I'm taking Satchmo for a hop."

 

END


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